A definitive memorial collection of one of America's great composers.

It is the intention of this disc to change dramatically music lover's opinions of the American composer Morton Gould. For those who know him as the composer of "light" music; American Salute, The American Symphonette, The Latin-American Symphonette, or as an arranger of other composer's music, or just as a fine conductor - get ready. There is no doubt in this listener's mind that StringMusic ranks with the greatest string music written in this century and yes I am including Elgar, Vaughan-Williams and Britten. In fact StringMusic is a masterpiece, richly deserving of the Pulitzer Prize for music it won in 1995. And the Piano Concerto composed when he was just in his early twenties. Sure, there are hints of Shostakovich, but the music is Gould, right from the start, all Gould. Showpiece was commissioned by Columbia Records. It was intended to show off the modern Orchestra and how well it could be captured in recording with the best of the Columbia engineers' talent. And while Ormandy and the Philadelphia, for whom the work was written, recorded it, the work was never approved for release. David Alan Miller feels it was because the music is so fiendishly difficult. The Orchestra simply did not have enough rehearsal time. This disc should find a audience because none of the works has ever been available before in any format.

Review:

"Three world-premiere recordings of large-scale pieces by Morton Gould are cause for celebration, and with this release we are close to having all of Gould's Orchestral pieces on either LP or CD....Not the least here is Gould's StringMusic, the work for which he won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize in music. The work is a five-movement suite reflecting, as Gould wrote in his program note to the score, the "man and musician we have all come to know for the intensity and emotion of his commitment to music and life, Mstislav Rostropovich."...Anyway, what's important is that the work is a lovely, intensely lyrical, and thematic work....Conductor David Alan Miller leads the Albany Symphony in totally sympathetic performances that I can't imagine being bettered. Randall Hodgkinson tosses off his solo lines with aplomb. Albany's sound is complimentary to the music's colors. This CD is a prime example of intelligent A&R planning." (Fanfare)